BRIDGE: Business Relating to Industry to Develop Gifted Education - A Career Education Project for the Gifted and Talented: Final Report.

Yonkers City School District, NY.

BRIDGE (Business Relating to Industry to Develop Gifted Education) was designed to bridge the gap between business, industry, and education via an internship program that would expose gifted and talented secondary school students to actual experiences which would increase their career awareness and knowledge of career opportunities. In addition, regular seminars were scheduled to expose students to decision-making techniques and clarification of their own values. The program serviced approximately two hundred 11th- and 12-grade students from Yonkers and eight other New York school districts. Over sixty businesses, industries, cultural, and educational institutions participated in BRIDGE. An onsite evaluation was conducted. Pre- and post-tests were administered to measure self-concept, career maturity, goal selection, self-appraisal, occupational information, and problem-solving ability. The following are some of the program accomplishments based on the collected data: there was a significant increase in the amount of school and business community cooperation in career education for the gifted; a booklet detailing the program was developed and disseminated by the American Association for Gifted Children; participants increased their knowledge of careers and their ability to make decisions; participants demonstrated an increase in their self-confidence; and participants demonstrated an increase in their knowledge about how organizations function and how organizational decisions are made and executed. (BM)